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ing; this helps prevent fat in the meat from smearing. Plastic grinders, like those that can be attached to home mixers, aren't robust enough for salami-making and don't hold the cold. A hand-operated metal grinder that clamps in place, much like the kind your grandmother probably used, is best for home use. A variety of grinding plates is also helpful. A stationary mixer that's able to handle at least five pounds of cold ground meat without overheating will also make things much easier. Use a paddle attach- ment if your mixer is strong enough; a dough hook if it isn't. You can mix the meat by hand in a metal bowl with a strong steel spoon, but this takes a lot of energy. A good sausage stuffer is a worthwhile purchase. There are tube attachments for grinders, but the grinder can overmix and overheat the meat. I've used these attachments and had varying degrees of success, so I suggest using them only as a last resort. Stuffers that employ a piston to extrude the meat work the best and cost about $85. I dry my salami in the wine cellar at the restaurant, but salami can be dried in most home basements. Be sure the area els or hooks to hang the sausages, a simple humidistat to gauge the moisture in the air, and a thermometer. The proper temperature for drying sausages is 50° and 600E Relative humidity should stay between 75% and 80%. The ideal conditions are 58° at 78% relative humidity. You can aim a small fan at the sausages if the drying room becomes too humid, or use a humidifier if it becomes too dry. If the humidity is too low, the sausages will dry too quickly and become "case-hardened"; that is, the surface of the salami becomes so dry and hard that no further moisture can escape. Salami that has case-hardened will be soft and mushy in the inside and very hard on the outside. If this happens, there's no way to reverse the effect, and it's best to throw out the salami and start over. is IMPORTANT INGREDIENTS The ingredients you'll need to make salami are few, so each one should be of top quality. The herbs and spices you choose should be fresh and full of flavor, as their flavor will need to stay potent through weeks of drying. Don't cheat on the meat. The most important ingredient in sausage-making is the meat. Use highquality meat, avoiding fatty scraps and trimmings. I use pork butt, a cut of pork from above the shoulder that has a good ratio of fat to lean-about one part fat to three parts lean. The pork butt should be boneless and trimmed of any gristle, bone chips, or other blemishes. You can buy fresh meat to use immediately or frozen meat, which you can thaw the night before you plan to start. Salt is the cure. You'll need two kinds of salt to make dried sausages, common salt (sodium chloride) and curing salt. Together they preserve, bind, and fla- FEBRUARY/MARCH 1995 clean and free of pests. You'll need dowbetween vor the meat. I use kosher salt instead of table salt because it is larger grained and purer. You can buy curing salt from meat processing companies or through mailorder suppliers (see sources below). Some curing salts contain only sodium nitrite; others are a mix of sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate. For hard salami, you'll need the latter. This compound curing salt is often called "Prague powder" and is tinted pink so it won't be mistaken for common salt. (For a discussion of sodium nitrite and nitrate, see Letters, Fine Cooking #4.) Curing salt usually comes chemically bound onto a common salt carrier, but I like to dilute it even more. Accuracy is important, so measure the salts by weight. I weigh them each separately and then mix them. I call this blend the curing mix. For a truly accurate curing mix, it's best to make enough for 100 pounds of meat and then divide the total weight of the mixture by the weight of the meat called for in the recipe. This greatly reduces the effect of any error that may occur on the scale. CULTIVATE SOME GOOD GERMS Lactobacilli bacteria (the same friendly bacteria that are in yogurt and sourdough bread) produce the lactic acid that gives salami a tangy flavor. These bacteria feed on simple sugars, so you'll need to add corn syrup to the sausage mixture. I use light corn syrup SOURCES FOR INGREDIENTS Check the Yellow Pages for local meat processors and distributors, which often carry supplies for making sausage and salami and for curing meat. The Sausage Maker (26 Military Rd., Buffalo, NY 14207; 71 6/876-5521) will ship everything from curing salts and casings to stuffers and grinders. Free catalog. &: EQUIPMENT Slice the salami superthin. Take your time and slice it properly for a more tender texture and a cleaner, brighter flavor. 57